


A New Aegis

by Mikel1234



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-11-13
Packaged: 2019-08-06 10:07:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16385933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mikel1234/pseuds/Mikel1234
Summary: A familiar conversation takes place in a world unknown to humanity. Burdens too great to shoulder are passed on to someone they believe to be more capable in their place. The new aegis is born, and Rex's journey begins to take a different course, for better or worse.





	1. Burdens Passed

It was like he was sinking slowly into a world of unknown. Sound began to act as though it was farther and farther away. In a strange way, he felt at peace. The pain was gone and the weight of the world passed him by. Recalling having memories of friends and family as he lost consciousness.

At least until the eyes that were once closed found themselves emerging from what seemed to be an extended rest to Rex. As his vision unblurred he winced as the grass had managed to irritate his eyes from how close he was to it.

“Wait… grass?”

Tilting his head upwards to find himself staring at a large field of grass, covered by a blue sky and large trees in the distance. If he could describe paradise without words, what he was looking at would probably be the closest description.

“Where am I?”

However, what had really caught his eye was a lone girl standing atop the hill. Noting her striking appearance as she was staring off in the distance.

“Maybe… she knows where I am?”

He didn’t know her any, but it sure beat standing around doing nothing.

Cautiously walking over to the red headed figure, wondering why they were the only two people for what looked to be miles. Trying to remember, but to no avail as he could barely recall anything that happened to him in the last few hours.

At last he had stopped a few feet away so as to not disturb her peace.

“Uh, Excuse me.” He spoke shyly.

“It hasn’t stopped… not in all these years.” She said melancholically.

“Stopped? You mean that bell? Is the praetorium somewhere nearby?” He asked looking around to get another look at his surroundings.

“Say… where are we?”

“This is… Elysium. The place where humanity once lived in harmony with the architect many years ago.” She explained.

“Huh!? Really? No way…”

Finding himself in disbelief as he moved towards the top of the hill noting the many buildings just across a body of water. The town seemed large enough from a distance to hold tons of people who might have wanted to live there.

He began glancing at the girl again to note, what seemed to be a glowing emerald on her chest.

“A core crystal? You’re a blade?”

“My name is Pyra.” She said sweetly.

“Oh-uh, my name’s…” Rex spurted out, caught off guard by her frankness. He was never particularly good with women, as Gramps put it.

“I know, it’s Rex, right?”

“Wait… how do you know my name?”

“Just now, when we came into contact with each other,”

“I met you? Sorry… I can’t seem to remember how I got here.”

“You were… killed. Jin stabbed you through the heart.”

Death? That had been his price for being in such a location? And from Jin? Wasn’t he on a mission with him?

“Wait a second…”

As if on que memories of his murder began to flow back into his brain. He could feel the pain of his cold blade going through his spine as he looked back, it was so surreal he nearly threw up from the realization.

But that in turn raised another point in his head.

“If that bastard stabbed me, then… the entire guild might be in danger now! I have to get back to the ship!” He yelled running... somewhere in a hurry.

"No, wait! I can't do anything if I'm dead!" He realized stopping on his knees to punch the ground in anger.

“Damn it! If I was still alive I’d kick that guy’s ass!”

Pyra found herself staring sadly at the display, as she felt a pain in her chest.

_‘Another innocent person dead because of me. Is there truly no end to the suffering I cause?’_

Walking over to the distraught boy laying in the grass, feeling the weight of his distress. She could tell the boy was not a bad person at the very least.

“Rex, what were you living for?” She asked.

“What I lived for? You mean like, my goals?” He questioned.

She nodded to confirm. however this seemed to confuse Rex even more.

Though, he hadn’t been expecting a question like that from this girl he never met, he wasn’t about to turn down anyone wanting to know more about him.

“I wanted to find Elysium, the place we’re at right now. I thought… that if I could find this place, the wars coming in the future might be able to be stopped. People could live in a world without fear and nobody would have to fight anymore over land. That sounds like my idea of a perfect world.” He explained.

Pyra smiled as she took a breath of relief.

“Then perhaps my fears were unwarranted, after all.”

“What do you mean?” Rex questioned.

“Rex, I have a request. Can you… take my powers and find Elysium for me?” She asked.

“But… isn’t that where we are now?”

“This is merely a memory from long ago, the real elysium lies in your world.”

As much as the prospect sounded exciting to Rex, he knew there was no point in getting his own hopes up.

“I can’t. I’m dead now, right? My chance was lost on that ship.”

“There is another way…” Placing her hand on her core crystal signaling Rex’s immediate attention at the words.

“I can revive you, as the new Aegis.”

“You can do that!? But…”

“What is your decision, Rex?” Pyra asked

He knew there was no way she could be joking about this, but there were still things he wanted cleared up before coming to a decision. He hadn’t really seen any reason not to trust her, she was a very nice person and had a lot of knowledge he currently lacked about his situation.

But the entire scenario just seemed too good to be true in his mind.

“Is this place… really your home?”

“Yes.”

“And, it really exists?”

“I know what you’re thinking, and you are correct, Rex. By coming to Elysium… you can save your world from it’s demise.”

“We wouldn’t... have to live in fear. Then… there’s only once choice to make!”

With no more reason to second guess himself, he ran up to the girl without question.

“I’m in, I’ll go to elysium and save everyone! You can count on me, Pyra!” He declared with complete confidence.

Pyra could only smile as she felt a large weight lifted off of their shoulders.

“Thank you, Rex.”

“So… what are you gonna do?” He asked unaware of what she was planning.

“In order to transfer my power, I will sacrifice my life to give you what is needed.” She said with another faint smile. Seeing no need to be upset over the news as it was what she intended.

Rex however didn’t take her statement so blankly.

“Sacrifice your life!? But I don’t want you to die for me! We can go together!”

“Do not trouble yourself over me, Rex. This is what we want, I know it might seem a bit selfish, but...” Pyra couldn’t help but admire his kindness, but no amount of words could change her mind.

“Is there nothing I can do to change your mind?”

“No. This is something I’ve been considering for a very long time. It’s time to give the world a new aegis that could do what I couldn’t.” Pyra paused closing her eyes remembering all the things leading up to her decision.

Rex wondered what she could have meant by that statement.

“But… thank you for wanting to try anyway, Rex.”

As much as the prospect of this nice girl dying saddened him, he understood that he couldn’t go against her word no matter how much he wanted to. Maybe this was part of the process of growing up Gramps and Aunt Corinne told him about.

It was her decision to make, and trying to go against her own wishes was just as if not more selfish than letting her do what she wanted. So, after a brief moment to think and a deep breath, he gave in.

“If that’s what you really want, then I won’t argue. Just tell me what I need to do.”

“Thank you. Now… place your hand on my chest.”

“Huh!? A-are you sure?” He questioned before noting the glowing core crystal she was pointing to.

Calming himself down he could see the core crystal glowing even brighter than before, it almost seemed to be calling out to him in some weird way. His gaze fixated on the object as he obliged to what he thought was a voice calling out to him.

Slowly moving his finger to the emerald, before a bright green light shot out. Rex could feel an intense amount of energy being place in his body as he stood in awe. Before he knew it the world was black again as he found himself falling into another deep sleep.

_‘Thank you for… freeing us of our burden.’_

 

* * *

 

  
“Nia… end them.” Said a tall man coated in black armor.

“End them? Why?” Asked the gormotti walking alongside him.

“We’ve finally obtained the Aegis, the fewer people know about its existence the better.” Malos was never a man who cared much for things beyond his goals, and though Nia knew this she couldn’t help but stare at him in disbelief.

She glanced once more at the salvagers who helped them find what they were looking for. Nopons, gormotti, and humans all staring in awe at Malos carrying the capsule of a sleeping girl.

One word kept finding itself crawling into her brain no matter how much she tried to respect Malos’ request: Innocence.

“I can’t do that! These people haven’t done anything wrong!” She defied.

Malos merely scoffed as he stopped walking with the capsule to scowl at his team’s newest member.

“Nia… have you forgotten why we came here in the first place?”

“I know, but even still…”

“Oh, for the love of- fine, I’ll do it myself!” The man annoyingly declared.

As luck would have it, though, the capsule with the redheaded woman inside began to burn furiously.

“What the-!?” Chucking it as far away as possible. The flames stayed until the pod had burned itself out of existence.

At the same time the floor of the ship was being tunneled through by a giant wall of fire, as Rex found himself leaping out onto the deck soon after.

“Rex!?”

“The kid? And that sword? Don’t tell me…”

“It’s kinda low to stab a man in the back… you damn psychopath!” Rex yelled before rushing at the two men.

Malos didn’t seem the least bit worried, as he smugly laughed to himself before bringing out his own weapon.

“Jin, leave this to me.”

Charging at Malos with a large overhead swing, only to have it intercepted by his blade, blocking it with his shield.

“Heh, not fast enough.”

Knocking Rex back with a kick, causing him to clench his stomach in pain. He hadn’t remembered ever seeing Sever fight, so what the blade was able to do was a mystery to him unfortunately.

“Damn it.” He groaned.

“Sorry, kid. I can’t just let the likes of you claim her power for yourself. This is as far as you go.”

So that’s what this was all for. Power. The slaughtering of innocents, finding the legendary blade. Just for the sake of gaining strength. Rex’s anger began to slowly rise at the gull of this man..

“I’m sick… of your crap!”

Charging at the two, this time attacking Sever who lacked a weapon. Trading blows and dodging when needed. Try as he might, landing a hit on the blade was harder than he imagined.

_‘This isn’t good, no matter how hard I try I can’t keep up with his movements!’_

“What a shame. You’ve got all that power but aren’t skilled enough to make use of it.” Sever taunted.

Perhaps what Rex needed was a change in plans, or to be more accurate, opponents. Disengaging from his fight with Sever after dodging a narrow claw swipe to his face.

“Is that what you think? Don’t count me out just yet!”

Without a second to spare he gathered energy in his weapon to shoot a wave of fire at Malos, who, of course managed to block it without much effort. Thankfully the blast left a smoke cloud large enough to distort his vision, giving Rex enough time to rush in with a swing.

Barely managing to counter with his own weapon, Malos grunted in displeasure at the thought of being outsmarted by a novice as the two locked swords.

“Damn brat. I’ll give you that you’re smarter than I thought.”

Growing tired of toying with the kid, overpowering Rex with a simple push. A bit shaken up, though not defeated Rex retaliated with another swing from the right. Malos scoffed as he knocked Rex off balance once more with a counter swipe, taking this advantage and kicking him full force.

Rex grunted in pain as he was sent flying quite a distance across the ship. Pain seeping across his body stopped him from wanting to get up.

“That was almost too easy.” Malos boasted switching the blade’s ownership to Sever who launched an x shaped wind blast at the boy.

Sensing the danger Rex hurried to his feet, though he could barely manage to get up on his knees in time. In a last ditch effort, he held his arms in a guard position to soften the blow as much as possible.

A large explosion covered the area, as the salvagers watched in awe at the battle taking place.

“Rex!” Nia cried as she hoped the inevitable hadn’t happened.

She wanted to say something to convince Malos to stop, but she had known him long enough to understand how stubborn he could be when he wanted something. Instead she chose to cheer Rex on from the sides silently, although a nagging voice in the back of her head was telling her to take action was starting to grow louder.

Yellow eyes opened once more to find what seemed to be a shield protecting him.

“Did I do this?”

He recalled a memory of Sever using a shield of the same appearance to stop Rex from attacking Malos. The cogs began turning in his head as he began to understand what happened.

Malos merely scoffed as he stared at the confused kid.

“About damn time he learned how to control that power. I was getting bored.”

Nia sighed of relief, thanking whatever deities allowed this to happen.

“So this is the power of a blade…” Rex inquired.

Gaining his composure, he stood up and tightened his grip on his sword. Finding his confidence skyrocket at the discovery.

“I could get used to this!” He yelled charging at his opponents.

Sever tried to intercept with wind blasts, but Rex blocked them once more continuing his charge and attacking both enemies at once.

“Everyone! You need to get out of here, now! Hurry!”

Without a second though the salvagers all began to run to the ship hoping they made it home safely. Malos wouldn’t let them escape so easily, however, catching the sword Sever tossed to him leaping to the titan head on the ship to get a good aim as he charged a blast of energy.

“You won’t escape me!”

“Hey, you bully! Heads up!” Rex yelled.

Tossing another wave of fire energy at the man, who only had time to intercept with his sword. Rex using his time wisely, leapt into the air and channeled ether into the blade as the fire coming out of his sword grew larger with every second passed.

“Burning Sword!”

The explosion caused the entire ship to shake in distress. Some of the salvagers even stopped to gaze at the battle before heading in the ship.

Rex found himself frustrated as he hadn’t even managed to make a dent in his opponent’s defenses. Sever had projected a shield at the last second to save his driver, entering a struggle battle with Rex to keep his sword out of reach.

“You sure are a pain in the ass, kid. To think you’d end up being this much of a thorn in my sides…”

“Sorry to ruin your plans, but I can’t just let you get away with this!”

“I suppose with those eyes… I should have been more weary from the start.”

“What’s THAT got to do with anything!?”

“Like I’d tell YOU!”

Channeling dark energy into his hand, attacking the boy. Rex was wise to his plan, and kicked off of Sever’s shield to launch himself away from the attack. The three fell back to the deck as the salvaging crew’s ship drove away, leaving a distraught Nia and Dromarch as the spectators.

As Rex found a comfortable stance to take, Malos grew tired of playing around with his opponent.

“You’re not half bad, kid. Becoming the aegis and controlling her powers like that.” Malos confided as Rex charged at the man.

“However…”

Catching Rex’s sword in his left hand, he launched a fist straight into the boy’s stomach, leaving him gasping for air. Adding insult to injury, Malos slammed the boy with all his might into the floor, causing him to skid along the ground from the impact process.

“Getting cocky against me will just get you killed!”

As Malos charged at the boy ready to end the fight, Nia found the voice inside her head intolerable at this point.

“Dromarch, we’re helping!”

“Understood!”

Taking out her twin rings, as Dromarch ran after Malos roaring sending a gust of water out of his mouth. Malos could barely get up his guard as he was caught by surprise, luckily Sever was watching from a distance and blocked for him.

Nia and Dromarch stopped their approach in front of Rex to protect him from further harm, battle stances ready.

“Get out of the way! Have you already forgotten our mission, Nia!?”

“I’m not gonna let you kill this kid! Don’t you see how messed up this is!?” She said.

“Nia… I don’t think you understand the situation here.”

“I get it, but…”

“You’re pissing me off, Nia!”

“My lady, I suggest we split this fight up to maximize the chance of success.”

“Good thinking, I’ll take Malos, you handle his blade.”

* * *

 

Rex was certainly not expecting the first thing he saw when he woke up to be Nia fighting off Malos and his Blade. Though he had come to realize that fate wasn’t particularly kind to him most of the time.

“Heh, to think you’d betray your own comrades for some damn kid you barely know! I’m impressed.” Malos said.

“Killing a child isn’t right! Someone’s gotta get that through your thick skull!” Nia retorted.

The two continued to clash blows, with Nia finding herself constantly being overpowered by Malos’ skill. However, despite that she never once let herself throw in the towel, willing to waste her waste breath protecting Rex.

“Throwing your life away for some kid, how pathetic. But I can’t say it doesn’t suit you.”

Charging at Nia once more as she barely had the strength to put fight back. Putting her weapons up, Malos effortlessly knocked them out of her grasp. Nia couldn’t retaliate as the impact left her off balance, so Malos used the opportunity to slash right through her chest diagonally, kicking her away after.

The pain was unbearable to say the least, leaving Nia unable to do anything but yell in agony as she laid on the floor.

“Nia!”

“My lady!” Dromarch cried, unfortunately preoccupied with Sever.

Rex couldn’t help but mentally curse to himself as he grew angrier at the display of violence. It was bad enough Nia was fighting for him, but now she was in danger because of him, too.

‘Damn it! I’m supposed to be the aegis, now. If I can’t even take on one driver then what good am I!?’

People were in trouble, and it was up to him to do something about it. That’s what a hero was supposed to do, as Gramps once told him.

“I have to help her, I have… to fight!” He declared.

"Pyra put a lot of faith in me, I can't let her down after that!"

Gathering his strength, he struggled back on his feet, running as fast as he could to get the jump on Malos, who was busy fighting Dromarch with Sever.

“It’s almost a shame that I have to end our partner ship so early, I kind of liked the two of you.”

“Don’t make that sound like a compliment!”

“Kid!?” Malos yelled barely blocking his attack, sending the boy flying backwards with a push.

“You’re not killing anybody today!”

Shooting two beams of fire before charging at him again, Malos dodged knowing Rex would take advantage of the smoke, before beginning trading blows with the boy once more.

The two continued to go back and forth, with each time Malos gained the advantaged or landed a hit, Rex continued to fight harder without losing a beat.

“You some kind of stamina freak?” He said, entering a struggle battle with Rex.

“Beats me, I just can’t stand the thought of losing to someone like you!” He yelled pushing his weight harder against Malos.

“Well, then humor me this. If you’re the new aegis, I’m guessing your goal… is Elysium.”

“Of course! After all, that’s my dream!”

“Then, I suppose I have no choice but to take you down!”

Charging dark energy in his hand, Malos swiped at Rex who noticed and quickly jumped backwards. The two stood facing each other, battle stances ready, as Malos smirked looking into the distance.

Rex, catching on turned behind him to see the large black ship from earlier.

“So it was following us!”

The weapons pointed towards Rex, ready to fire. Immediately, he put up a shield to protect himself as bullets of arrows and cannonballs launched at him. However, the ammo had come in such a large number that his defense found itself being overwhelmed, slowly but surely cracking against the attacks.

“Crap, the shield’s breaking!”

The defense began shattering into dust as the impact sent Rex skidding across the ship. Though, it was not as painful as he expected thanks to the shield taking most of the brunt force.

Once more, the cannon began seeking it’s target, locking onto Rex again. Anger and dread began to fill his body as he realized that nothing he could do would help in the situation.

“Even if I block, it’ll just destroy my shield again…” Rex despaired.

“You’re a tough one, kid. But there’s only one way this can end!” Malos warned.

As luck would have it, he found help from an unexpected ally. Fireballs blasted the canons to pieces as Rex watched in confusion, before seeing a familiar titan flying downwards.

“Gramps!?” He asked.

The titan began to swirl back into the sky, ready to fire once more, this time at the men responsible for the whole thing.

“Malos and Jin!? I should have guessed…”

“Azurda…”

Jin hadn’t been expecting so see an old face like his so soon. Knowing his intentions, the man gripped his sword ready to retaliate.

The titan wasted no time laying waste to the ship in an effort to take out the culprits, Jin had effortlessly countered with a single sword strike, Malos had simply been missed.

Azurda seemed not to worry much, as he wasn’t there to stop them, anyway. Landing his wing on the side of the ship to stop his flight near Rex, he rested.

“Rex! Get on!” He insisted.

Rex, wise to his mentor’s plan, gathered his strength and took a running leap onto a secure part of his back. Dromarch grabbed Nia by the mouth and did the same.

With everyone aboard, Azurda began to fly off as fast as he could. But not before the remaining canons took fire at the titan while he was in range.

"Hold on tight! I'm not slowing down!"

“Open fire! Don’t lose sight of them!” Malos ordered.

Azurda found himself in excruciating pain as he weathered the storm of the cannon fire, before getting far enough away to avoid getting hit.

“It’s not use, they’re out of range.” Jin calmly stated.

“Shit! They gave us the slip.”

“Let’s head back to base.”

“We aren’t going to chase them down?” Malos inquired.

“The aegis has been reborn within that boy, that’s enough for now.”

“Heh, If that's what you want…”

"I suppose that will have to do for now." Malos resigned.

With that, the two left the remains of the soon to be sunk-again titan ship, confident that the next meeting with that boy would be his last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's an idea I've had in my head for a while, really glad to be finally getting it written down. Expect things to play out pretty similar to canon at least until we get to Gormott. All feedback is appreciated and I'll see you next update!


	2. Revelations and Reunions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to get around to uploading this. It took me a while to really get a solid plan for this story written down, and I didn't want to write until I finished it. With that said, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! I won't be making promises for when the next update will come, but I'll TRY to have it ready by no less then the end of this month. Any feedback is of course appreciated and I'll see you guys next update.

_Explosions filled the area as two beings of immense power clashed as the citizens watched in despair as their home was slowly being destroyed._

  _The battle between the aegis’ had been long and dangerous, causing the residents of the village to retreat. Everyone had been hoping for Addam’s blade to end the fight quickly, but the man attacking with dark energy was no pushover either._

  _Finding a safe spot on the outskirts of the village, they prayed silently, hoping for anything to salvage from the outcome of the fight._

  _"Momma, where are we gonna live if those blades destroy our home?” Asked a little girl hugging her parent._

  _Faking a smile, she rubbed her child’s head._

  _“Don’t worry, sweetie. Even if our old home is gone we can always move to another one.”_

  _Her daughter wasn’t won over with those words, though. Biting her hand as the sounds of clashing swords could be heard in the distance._

  _“But… what if they end up destroying everyone’s homes and there’s nowhere left to live?”_

  _The mother was taken aback at her question. Not expecting her usually optimistic daughter to be fearing the worst right now._

  _It wasn’t as if her fear was unwarranted, however. Despite trying to keep her child calm, she was just as afraid._

  _“Well… let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.” She replied._

  _Unfortunately, their prayers found themselves unanswered, as the two’s robot servants attacked with lasers that blew through the earth beneath them, causing more destruction._

* * *

 Consciousness found itself returning to Rex as he began to take in his surroundings. Observing a cloudy blue sky covered with tall trees, with an unfamiliar smell of bacteria gasses entering his nose.

 Eyes slowly widening as he stared into the distance. Feeling the soreness in his body from previous excursions.

 “Where… is this place?”

 Rex could tell he was definitely in uncharted territory, none of the focal points of the environment had really brought any memory to him. That of course, begged the question of how he got to such a place to begin with.

 Sitting up to refocus his mind, closing his eyes to enter a meditative stance, or at least the closet to one he could think of.

 “Ok, Rex, try to remember.”

 Folding his arms and lowering his head, he began surfing through his mind.

 “Let’s see… the last thing that happened was…”

 Almost like a jumpscare, it hit him all at once.

 “That’s right! Gramps helped us escape, and then… we must have landed here.” He recalled.

 The conversation with Pyra, the fight, the escape, what was moments ago a non issue became the only thing on Rex’s mind.

 Taking a quick glance around his immediate area to make sure nobody had landed near him, finding only a cliff capping off the grassy area’s space and his helmet.

 There could only be so many places to look if he assumed they all ended up in this forest. With his resolve in tow, he grabbed his equipment to him and ran off to find his friends.

 “They can’t be too far away, I better hurry!”

 Noting to himself to be extra careful, as a place with no civilizations in sight could be home to all kinds of monsters ready to fight.

 Something else found itself nagging at the back of his mind as he dashed through the forest. Eyebrows furrowing as the memory flashed through his brain once more.

 ‘T _hat Malos guy… was fighting a blade. But, why?’_

 The woman he was fighting, Rex noted the emerald shaped core crystal on her chest, just like Pyra’s.

  _'_ _Was that Pyra’s sister? She did look a little similar to her. But, can blades even have siblings?’_ Scratching his head as he climbed over a vine wall.

 Trudging through ankle deep water, he shook his head, trying to regain his focus. Worrying about things he didn’t understand was pointless, right now finding everyone was his top priority.

 “The last thing I need is distractions right now. Gotta focus on finding my friends!”

* * *

“I believe that should speed up the healing process, my lady. Unfortunately my healing cannot go beyond those measures.” Dromarch assured his companion.

 “Don’t worry about it, the gauze should keep it from getting infected anyway.” Nia replied finishing the stitches on her jumpsuit.

 As Torna’s self appointed medic, she made sure that she never left on an assignment without preparing first aid. You could never be too sure of what could happen, of course.

 “Though, I should warn you not to overexert yourself for a while. Otherwise the wound could reopen.”

 “I’m not some helpless old lady just cuz I got a little cut, you know. I can handle myself.” Nia protested.

 “That stubborn nature of yours is exactly why I’m warning you.”

 “Hmph.” Folding her arms, she turned away from her companion. Though knowing he was right, she refused to let him acknowledge that.

 More importantly, they needed to figure out what to make of their current situation. Like the whereabouts of the two who saved them.

 “My lady, now that we’ve taken care of your wound. What do you propose to be the best course of action?” 

Nia didn’t even have to think twice about it, the answer was obvious to her.

 “We’re gonna look for em’, Rex and the titan that you said helped us. They saved our lives… it’s the least we can do.”

 “Of course, I had no doubt you were going to do the right thing.” Dromarch said.

 “So, how exactly do we find them?” Nia asked.

 “We can sense the ether in the area to find any trace of blades in the air. As I recall, this place is home to many monsters, I have no doubts that master Rex may have already encountered a few.” He explained.

 “Oh, right. Rex _is_ a blade now. Honestly, I’m kind of surprised we haven’t met any monsters, not that I’m complaining.”

 “Let us not toy with good fortune, my lady. We must make haste if we wish to find them quickly.”

 “Right, let’s get moving.”

 Getting a quick stretch before beginning their long walk to find those missing, too bad for them, however, fate would be much crueler to them then usual, today.\

* * *

Rex hadn’t been expecting his mentor to go from a menacing giant to the size of a volf pup in such a heartbreaking way. The titan he moments ago thought was going to die, had somehow rebirthed himself as a baby titan with an explanation that didn’t really satisfy him in the slightest.

 Relieved as he might be, such an event had been borderline traumatizing to the young man. As he hid the anger at the knowledge that his Gramps had seen him bawling like a child, he decided that all that really mattered was the fact that he was alive.

 Although that still left the matter of him being homeless, Gramps noted that it was only a matter of time before his days of saving money were over many times before anyway.

 Finally moving onto another matter of discussion, the two had started to converse about their current situation.

 “By the way, Rex. Is that a core crystal in your chest?” Azurda asked recognizing that  emerald shape.

“Yeah, it’s kind of a long story.” The salvager replied.

 “Just what on earth happened to you while I was away?”

 “I’ll tell you all about it after we find Nia.” Rex said placing the now miniature sized titan in his helmet.

 “Oh-ho! Now this is a nice change of pace.” The titan teased as Rex walked off.

 Continuing about his journey, the boy became increasingly annoyed the more he realized he lacked a proper sense of direction. Cursing himself for not thinking ahead to bring a map or something, then again, it isn’t like he could have predicted ending up in his current situation.

* * *

“Haven’t we already passed that tree before?”

 “Don’t go senile on me now, Gramps!”

 Finally deciding to take a break after the constant walking, Rex sighed as he glanced at the large log blocking their path on a suspended bridge.

 “This is hopeless, we’re never gonna find them like this...” He complained before what felt like a ripple in the air became clear to his senses.

 The strange feeling that was nagging his mind since he had begun his search was now in full force letting it’s presence be known. At first had he simply chose to ignore it, but his curiosity was beginning to get the best of him.

 “Say, gramps? I’ve got a question.”

 “What’s on your mind?”

 “I’m not really sure I can explain it well. But for a while I’ve been able to sense some kind of strange energy.” Rex answered.

 The sensation was very strange to his body, as he had never dealt with a phenomenon such as this. Perhaps this was another power that blades were able to use, at any rate he never knew of its existence.

 “Hm… you might be describing ether. You see, blades have the power to draw power from the air via it’s ether, think of it as a second layer of oxygen.” Azurda started.

 “A second layer, huh…” Rex pondered.

 “Because blades draw their power from ether, other blades are able to sense their presence by using it as a sonar of sorts.” Azurda continued flying out of Rex’s helmet to float in front of him.

 “Judging from that core crystal on your chest, I’d assume what you’re probably feeling is that same phenomenon.” He stated pointing at Rex’s chest.

 “Then, that means I can sense blades, too?.” Rex asked putting his hand on his chin..

 “Don’t go doubting your old man, now.” Azurda said with an amused look. Of all the times to be playing the skeptical child, now was not the best moment.

 “Alright, alright, Mr. Knowitall.” Rex replied rolling his eyes.

 “Now then, it’s time to find Nia and Dromarch!” He shouted pumping his fists.

 “Yes, but we must hurry. I fear something terrible may happen to them.” Azurda nodded flying back into Rex’s helmet, adjusting himself to get comfortable.

 “Right, here goes nothin!” He replied, closing his eyes to focus. Within his mind he could sense it, the second layer that was invisible to the naked eye. Concentrating on looking for any nearby blades, he found that familiar sensation once more.

 “I felt it again. It’s like some kind of wave messing with the flow of energy.” He said folding his arms, hearing the titan sigh at the information.

 “Then, it would be wise of us to make our departure. A disturbance in the ether usually means a battle is taking place.” Azurda requested.

Rex took a second to put the pieces of his statement together, before remembering who the only other blade he knew was in this area had been..

 “If that’s true… then Dromarch and Nia might be in danger! We better hurry!” He declared, burning the log effortlessly with a fire blast before running off.

* * *

“My lady, I’ll hold the creature off. Go look for the others!” The now distressed blade pleaded.

 “I can fight, too! And I’m not going to leave you here!” Nia refused.

 It hadn’t been too long before a large frog creature attacked the two passing by it’s territory. Expecting to get by if they just moved quickly and quietly, but this monster seemed rather aggressive.

 Attacking first by launching it’s tongue at the pair, though they managed to dodge in time. Irritated, it chose to focus its efforts on one of the split up two, deciding on the visibly weak, Nia.

 Despite the gormotti’s protesting, she was finding it rather hard just to move around in a combat situation. Dromarch’s healing was no miracle work, all wounds needed time to heal of course.

 “Leave Nia alone!”

 A voice yelled, before leaping into the battle stabbing the creature on its head, wrestling for dominance as it began wildly running around in pain.

 “Rex!?”

 “Hey, Nia! Could use a hand, here!” Rex shouted clinging to the frog’s body.

 Snapping out of her confusion, she drew her weapons before finishing some semblance of a plan. Glancing at her companion, who was patiently awaiting her orders. Noticing her, they both nodded in agreement before making a move.

 “Rex, brace yourself!” Nia yelled in warning, the salvager replied by tightening his grip on his blade.

 Letting out a mighty roar, Dromarch covered the frog in a wave of sound, causing the creature to screech in pain. Rex, while dealing with the same displeasure steeled himself and leapt off the creature’s back.

 Taking advantage of it’s distraction, he chose to stab it directly into it’s chest, hoping he’d hit a vital organ. Try as the creature might to fight back, it found it incredibly difficult to move under the amount of pain it was in, continuing to screech in displeasure as blood spurted out of it’s soft underbelly.

 Nia chose to slice her twin rings across it’s neck, using a leaping spin to begin cutting through the skin as it began to bleed out from the head up as well. As Dromarch roar began to power down, the creature began to limply walk with what little energy it had left.

 As the three prepared to take on the frog once more, it finally gave it’s last cry, before falling to its side, admitting defeat even if reluctantly. With that over the group all sighed of relief as they relaxed themselves.

 “That was cutting it a little too close…” Nia said clutching her chest, letting out a grunt of pain sitting in the grass.

 “It is quite a stroke of luck you managed to get here when you did. I doubt we would have been able to do much without your aid.” Dromarch replied with a bow.

 “I’m just glad you we found you two in one piece, we’ve been looking for a while and I was starting to get worried.” Rex admitted, noticing the stitches in Nia’s jumpsuit.

 “So… is your wound feeling any better?” Rex asked sitting down next to her.

“Don’t worry, I patched it up pretty good, just needs to heal.” She absently explained before remembering the second helper Dromarch mentioned.

 “You know first aid?”

 “The guys at Torna made sure I wasn’t just some useless layabout, so they taught me what they knew about medical treatment. Plus, Dromarch’s like a walking encyclopedia, so he had plenty of knowledge about it, too.” Nia responded.

 “You two must make a pretty amazing team, then.”

 “They certainly sound more reliable than a reckless, stubborn kid.” Azurda teased.

 “Says the lazy old man who nags me all day!” Rex replied dropping his eyelids in annoyance.

 Nia and Dromarch begun staring in confusion as they saw the voice of the miniature titan inside Rex’s helmet.

 “Uh, who’s the little guy?” Nia asked.

 “Little guy? Oh… I guess you wouldn’t recognize Gramps anymore, huh.”

 “Wait… _that’s_ the guy who saved us!? How did he get so small?” Nia asked eyes wide with shock.

 “Another long story to add to the list, I suppose.” Azurda joked as Rex sighed wondering just how much explaining he’d need to do before everyone was up to speed.

“Might I suggest setting up camp, it has been quite an eventful day.” Dromarch said.

 “Yeah, sounds good. Rex?”

 “No complaints from me.” He replied with a smile.

* * *

Rex had elected to be the one to collect the wood due to Nia’s injury. Thankfully they hadn’t needed to hunt for food as Aunt Corinne already sent some his way before he left, and starting the fire was no problem thanks to his new pyrokinetic abilities.

 As the sky began to color itself dark, everyone had gotten comfortable as Rex began his story of meeting Pyra and finding Azurda. Most of his explanation had been met with silence, though Nia had once or twice wondered how much of Rex’s story was real.

 It seemed like something right out of a fairy tale, a boy meeting a girl in his dreams and using her power to save the world. But, despite not knowing him that long, she could tell that Rex was not one to lie about such matters. After a bit of thought, Nia eventually gave into believing the boy.

 “I get it, so this Pyra girl gave you her powers, and now you two are off to elysium.” She said letting herself relax on Dromarch’s soft underside.

 “Yeah, once we leave this titan, anyway.”

 “And how exactly do you plan on doing that?” She asked relaxing her arms behind her head..

 “Uh… I didn’t really think that far ahead.” Rex admitting rubbing the back of his head.

 “I knew it, you have no idea what you’re doing, do you?” She asked glaring at him.

 “A lot’s happened, ok? I had to make sure my friends were safe, first.” Rex replied replied folding his arms.

Nia rolled her eyes in amusement at his excuse. She, of course understood his mindset, though, and chose not to pick with him anymore. Instead providing a more pragmatic response.

 “Well, I guess I can lend you a hand for a while, looks like you could use some sense of direction.”

 “Thanks, I could use a hand.” Rex admitted. It’s not like he wasn’t going to figure out a solution eventually, but having someone to guide him was definitely better than running around without a plan.

 Besides that, he had found himself growing rather fond of Nia and her feline companion. Sure, they had a bit of a bad first meeting with each other, but as Rex began to open himself up to her, he noticed she was a lot nicer and not as quick to throw out insults.

 He hadn’t really thought about it much, be sometimes living on a titan could get pretty lonely when he only had himself and a nagging old grandfather figure to confide his thoughts to. Having another person to talk to, even if temporarily was pretty nice.

 “Yes, It gets pretty hard to keep Rex from getting himself into trouble in my experience.” Azurda chastised the boy sitting next to him on a log.

 “Ah, come on, gramps! How was I supposed to know those guys were suspicious?”

 “Perhaps you should have stopped being so stubborn and listened to me for once in your life.” Azurda unapologetically replied.

 “Alright, I get it. I’m a terrible disappointment. Can’t you tell how sorry I am?” Rex unconvincingly apologized.

“Can you muster even a hint of sincerity in your voice?”

 “Sorry, but I can’t.” Rex replied looking intently at the sword placed in his lap, reminding him of the good that came from his adventure.

 “If I took your advice, then they would have gotten their hands on Pyra’s power. There’s no way I’d ever let people like that Malos guy steal something this amazing. So I can’t feel bad about what I did.” He explained gripping the red sword tightly.

 Azurda couldn’t help but smile despite his anger at Rex’s lack of empathy for his plight. He had to admit, giving Malos and Jin the power to accomplish whatever their goals may be at the cost of Rex taking his advice didn’t sound appealing in the slightest.

 “I suppose you have a point there. But that doesn’t mean the next time you’ll be so lucky with fate.” He warned.

 “Ok, ok. I’ll try not to ignore you as much anymore. Happy?” Rex complied with a smile rubbing his cheek.

 It was true that ignoring his grandpa was ultimately for the best, but considering how lucky he had been to get a second chance at life, he had no doubt that his next failure probably wouldn’t be so kind to him. Despite his annoyance at the man’s constant nagging, he did have a point he couldn’t deny. So he decided to take his words to heart, and try to change one of his worst habits.

 “Hmph, don’t disappoint me again, Rex.” Azurda said finding shelter in Rex’s helmet that he placed on the ground to catch some sleep.

 “You got it, gramps.” He replied laying down, using the grass as his makeshift bed.

 Nia and Dromarch had already been fast asleep seeing no need to listen to their friends’ bickering any longer. Soon, only the sounds of snoring could be heard in the nearby area. The long day of travel and battle had begun to take its effect on the four.

 Well… three of them managed to find sleep at least. As Rex, found the events that passed a bit too heavy for him to have a good night sleep on. Quietly getting up and moving to a nearby pond, sitting in thought.

 There was so much to think about, it had begun to overwhelm his once relaxed mind. Malos and Jin were dangerous, but how could he stop them when he wasn’t even strong enough the first time they battled?

 According to his dream, Malos had been terrorizing people since before he even met the man. Just how little did he know about that man before they met? Then there was the masked man, who seemed more interested in observing everything happening then taking action.

 But if he was working with Malos, there’s no way anything good could come out of that partnership. Which makes him wonder why Nia would ever join a group with a guy like Malos in the first place.

 Shaking his head to erase any bias thoughts that would cross his mind, it wasn’t right to just assume the intentions of people, Gramps always told him not to judge people by their past, by instead their present actions and character.

 He wasn’t sure he wanted to start pestering her for answers either, they had just met recently and didn’t want to come off as nosy or anything.

 “Couldn’t sleep?” A familiar voice called out.

 “There’s a lot on my mind.” Rex replies to his titan friend.

 Azurda had expected this, of course. After hearing his story, the man realized there had to have been a lot to consider.

 “I can imagine, taking on the burden of being the aegis is a big responsibility. Are you sure this is the path you’re willing to take?” Azurda asked flying in front of Rex.

 “Of course. Finding Elysium’s been my dream for as long as I can remember. I’m ready to do whatever it takes to get there.” He nodded with a confident smile.

 “And what of Malos?”

 “I’m gonna find a way to take him down, too. I may not be strong enough now, but maybe if I learn how to control my new power, things’ll be different next time I see him.” Rex replied clutching a fist.

 Azurda couldn’t help but sigh as he realized the painful truth of the situation.

 “It would seem the fate of an Aegis never changes.”

 “What do you mean?”

 “Pyra had been fighting Malos for a long time before you came along. Now her duty has been passed onto you.” Azurda explained.

 Rex found himself gasping as the titan’s information began to allow him to put two and two together.

 “So that dream was real after all…” He muttered to himself.

 “Dream?”

 “I saw… a girl who had my core crystal fighting Malos on a titan I’ve never seen before. She looked a bit like Pyra, but I didn’t really know if it was real or not until just now.” He explained.

 Azurda pondered this, folding his arms in thought before realizing what was going on.

 “You must be talking about her other form, Mythra.”

 “Mythra?”

 “You see, before the Aegis was sealed away, during a great war against Malos, she began to fear her own power, and created a new form so that even if someone had reawakened her, only a fraction of her power could be used.” The titan explained.

 “Hm… so then, right now I’m not even using half of Mythra’s full power?”

 “If what their previous driver had told me is correct, yes.”

 “You knew their driver, too? How old are you?” Rex teased.

 “Heh, my old age wasn’t just for show, I’ll have you know.” Azurda gloated before stretching his limbs out with a yawn.

 “I think that’s enough chat for one night, Rex. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow, any energy we can get will be useful.”

 “I guess you’ve got a point there, and I feel a lot better after talking about everything.” He said noting how heavy his eyelids were getting now that his brain had calmed down.

 Walking back to their campsite, noting that Nia and Dromarch hadn’t even moved an inch since they left. As the two settled in for the night, Rex began to doze off with one thought going through his mind.

  _'_ _I’ve gotta do my best to be the Aegis, for everyone’s sake. I'll start... by trying to figure out how to unlock my full power!’_

**Author's Note:**

> Here's an idea I've had stuck in my brain for a while, glad to finally be getting to writing it. Expect things to play pretty standard in canon until we get to Gormott at least, but the city should be a fun change of pace. Any feedback is appreciated, and I'll see you when the next chapter comes out.


End file.
